Dangerous Games
by Lauryn1
Summary: Is there a reason chibi Trunks won't play with Vegeta? Goku's gonna find out the hard way...


Dangerous Games  
  
By: Lauryn Marino  
  
1/17/2002  
  
Vegeta's heart raced has he ran through the dense forest in a panic. He hardly noticed the sting of the tree branches as they hit his skin, leaving red marks on his face. All he knew was he had to get as far away from the one who was pursuing him as possible. The prince had lost all sense of direction as he penetrated deeper and deeper into the unfamiliar terrain, but that didn't matter anymore. Vegeta stopped for a moment to catch his breath, his eyes searching the surrounding area for a place he may be able to hide. Suddenly, the voice of his pursuer reached his ears, calling out his name in a mocking manner. The prince stopped breathing for a moment, trying to figure out what direction and how close the voice was. Again, his name was called, louder this time, followed by a chuckle. Vegeta frowned at the fact he was running from what might as well have been his hunter. The proud Prince of Saiyajins normally would have stood his ground and fought back, but this was a  
special case. He feared what might happen if he came into contact with his pursuer. With that last thought embedded in his head, Vegeta once again bolted through the forest, sensing that his hunter was close.  
  
The prince leapt over a fallen tree and continued on his way, almost able to hear footsteps behind him. Vegeta slowed his pace a bit and glanced behind him, sweat running down his forehead. Nothing. The Saiyajin took a deep breath and turned around again, gasping as he came face to face with his pursuer. Vegeta stumbled backward, his eyes wide with panic. "Kak....Kakarotto...." Goku stood in silence, staring at his prey with a firm look set on his face. Vegeta didn't like that expression at all. He was used to this usually happy go lucky Saiyajin having a goofy smile embedded on his face... but this new look... this expression full of determination, excitement, competitiveness... it sent a shiver down the prince's spine. Goku actually looked like a Saiyajin at that moment.  
  
Vegeta jumped back as Goku took a step forward, a smirk spreading over his features. "I never thought I'd see the day you ran from me, Vegeta." The younger Saiyajin continued advancing on his prey until the prince had nowhere else to go and ended up backing into a tree. Goku chuckled as Vegeta seemingly attempted to melt into the wood. He quickly closed the gap between them until he was a mere couple inches away from the panicky prince. "You know this had to happen sooner or later. Why fight it?" Vegeta's eyes narrowed in anger as he looked at the confident Saiyajin that had hunted him down like an animal. "I'm a prince! This shouldn't be happening right now!" Goku stared at the angry Saiyajin for a moment before his hand shot out, hitting the tree trunk right beside Vegeta's head. The shorter Saiyajin's eyes widened and he swallowed hard as his panic began to return. "You can't win the game every time, Vegeta. No one ever does." Goku smirked, his voice low and predatory.  
"You think this is a game, Kakarotto?! My pride is on the line here!" The taller man shook his head slightly as he began to reach forward with his other hand. "You just have to learn how to forget about your pride sometimes."  
  
Vegeta's eyes widened and he once again attempted to melt into the tree behind him. "No, Kakarotto! Don't do it!! DON'T!!!" But it was too late. Goku gently tapped the prince on the nose and leaned forward, a smile spreading over his face. "Tag. You're it." The Saiyajin withdrew his hand and laughed as he disappeared into the woods. Vegeta stood there for a moment, frozen in shock. "He...he got me..." The prince's face regained its usual frown as his anger began to build. "That baka actually GOT me!!" He paused for moment as another thought entered his mind. "Wait. That makes me the hunter this time... That's good.... I'll make Kakarotto sweat all right. Oh yes. This will be good..." Vegeta chuckled evilly as he searched the surrounding area for any signs of the other Saiyajin. "Uh, Vegeta?" "AHHH!!" The prince spun around, his eyes falling upon Goku. The younger Saiyajin smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um...I'm hungry." Vegeta fell over at the statement.  
"Kakarotto! Can't you wait?! It's my turn to hunt you down like the dog you are!" Goku frowned slightly before his smile returned. "Aw, come on, Vegeta! You can do that after lunch." The prince mumbled angrily as he stood up again, folding his arms. "Very well."  
  
The two Saiyajins returned to Capsule Corp for lunch, where Bulma's cooks had already prepared a meal for them. Bulma walked in to find the two men wolfing down the food as if it would disappear at any moment. "How was your morning spar, guys? You don't look all that worn out to me." Vegeta snorted as his thoughts returned to earlier that morning when he had met Goku in their normal sparring grounds. Instead of starting the spar as they normally would, Goku had started to act like a Saiyajin, unnerving the prince. Eventually, it led up to the little game of Tag, or cat and mouse as Vegeta liked to refer to it as. "We were playing a game of Tag instead." Goku said between bites. Bulma raised an eyebrow and looked at Vegeta, who was avoiding making eye contact with the woman at all costs. "You actually played a game?" she asked, unsure if she had heard Goku correctly. The prince frowned as the reality of the situation finally caught up with him. He HAD been playing a childish  
game with Kakarotto all morning! "You have a problem with that?!" he finally snapped, glaring at Bulma angrily. The woman smirked and she ate an apple at the table. "No. I just find it odd that you won't play with your eight year old son, but you'll go out and play Tag with Goku." Vegeta snorted again as he took another bite of a roll. "Trunks isn't any fun. He doesn't know how to hide properly." Bulma nearly choked as she turned to look at the Saiyajin again. "What?! You've actually played with him before?!" The prince felt his face turning red as all eyes turned on him. "I didn't say that! I'm just figuring that since the little brat can't stay quiet for more than five minutes, he wouldn't be very good a concealing himself! Don't go assuming things about me, woman! You don't know me!!" Bulma put her hands up in a defensive manner as she got up from the table. "All right. No need to go crazy on me. You two have fun with your...afternoon spar, ok?" Vegeta glared at the woman  
as she chuckled and left the room.  
  
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Goku and Vegeta once again returned to their sparring grounds after lunch, ready to go. "Ok, Vegeta. Do you want to spar, or do you still want to hunt be down like the dog I am, as you so nicely put it." The prince stood there for a moment as if trying to decide. "Neither." he finally said. Goku raised an eyebrow. "You mean... you just want to call it a day already?" Vegeta smirked and shook his head. "No. I want to play a different game. One that I get to choose." Goku scratched his head in confusion and shock, wondering why the other Saiyajin suddenly wanted to play games. "Uh...ok, sure." "Good." The prince replied. "We're playing Freeze Tag. You know how that works, right?" The younger Saiyajin smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That's fun!" Vegeta smirked and poked Goku on the arm. "Ok, you can't move from that spot until someone tags you, got it?" "Got it." The prince laughed to himself as he took to the air and began to fly towards the forest. "Remember, no moving until you're  
tagged again!" Goku nodded and stood still, smiling about Vegeta's sudden change in attitude.  
  
The prince flew a little ways into the forest before landing, still laughing to himself about his fellow Saiyajin's dull wit. "I wonder how long it'll take that baka to figure out that there's no one around to tag him..." He chuckled again as he scanned the surrounding area. "I should have plenty of time to set everything up before he figures it out. I'll teach him not to tag his prince! Now, Kakarotto... it's time to play some real games... Saiyajin style." Vegeta laughed evilly as he rubbed his hands together and set to work.  
  
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Goku stood in the same spot for hours, shifting from one leg to the other as his muscles began to get sore. "Aw man... How long until someone ta--- Hey... wait a minute!! No one else is even playing!!" The Saiyajin smacked himself on the forehead. "Ha! Vegeta's gonna feel so silly when he finds out there's no one else to tag! He must still be looking for the other players. I'd better go find him and let him know." Goku chuckled as he flew in the direction he has last seen Vegeta go.  
  
The Saiyajin landed once he'd gotten into the thick forest. "I wonder why Vegeta masked his ki... Maybe he thinks I'm "hunting" him again." Goku took a few more steps before he felt something wrap around his ankle tightly. Before he could even look down to see what it was, he suddenly found himself handing upside down from a tree. "Hey..what the--- I..." The Saiyajin blinked in confusion at his upside down world before looking at the noose that was encircling his ankle. "Oh... I see. Vegeta wants to play like that, does he? Hm. I'll get even for this..." Goku smirked and fired a small ki blast at the vine that held him in the air, falling to the ground with a thud as it snapped. "Ouch..." he moaned, rubbing his head painfully as he regained his footing. "I should have seen that coming..." The Saiyajin took a few more steps before once again finding himself hanging upside down from another tree by his ankle. "AH! VEGETA!!!" he yelled angrily. Goku once again broke the vine  
with a ki blast and once again fell to the ground with a thud. "Argh... Everyone's right... I never learn..."  
  
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Goku cursed under his breath angrily as he once AGAIN found himself hanging from another tree. "Ok, this was amusing the first 23 times, but I'm just getting annoyed now!" The Saiyajin folded his arms and just hung upside down for a moment, not wanting to end up hitting the ground with a thud again. He glanced to the side when he heard a familiar voice chuckling. Vegeta suddenly came into view...Well, he looked like he was upside down, but he was there. The prince grinned and squatted down in front of the upside down Saiyajin. "Are we having fun yet?" Goku frowned. "Don't think I'm going to hold back in our next sparring session now, Vegeta. This wasn't funny! Do you know how many brain cells I killed by falling on my head so many times?!" Vegeta smirked and stood up again, walking away. "You mean you actually have some left to kill? Interesting. But Kakarotto, you're making it sound as if I'm done with my little game. Far from it." Goku's eyes widened slightly as he watched  
the other Saiyajin walk away. "You mean there are MORE of these tree traps?!" "Among other things." Vegeta answered with a wave of his hand. The younger Saiyajin quickly broke the vine holding him in the air and hit the ground with a dull thud. He moaned as he jumped back to his feet and ran after the prince, who had gotten quite a bit of distance between them. "Vegeta! Come back here! This isn't funnAHHHHHH!!" Suddenly, the ground below Goku's feet gave way and he fell into a deep hole, landing in the dirt bottom with...you guessed it... a thud. The fallen Saiyajin glared up at a laughing Vegeta, who was pointing down at him in a mocking sort of way. "This is rich, Kakarotto! You should see your face!" Goku growled and bolted out of the hole, searching the area for Vegeta, who had disappeared again. "I'll get you..."  
  
Goku had decided to hover above the ground during his search this time in order to avoid anymore holes or snare traps. He chuckled at his cleverness. "Only took 25 traps to figure it out. Pretty good for someone's who's fallen on their head 25 times in one day." The Saiyajin failed to notice an upcoming tree branch as he thought and ended up smacking right into it, leaving a nasty bruise on his forehead. "Owwwww!!!" Goku cried, pressing his hand on his forehead to dull the throbbing pain. "When did nature become so cruel?!" The Saiyajin landed again to avoid another blow to the head, only to have the ground once again give way under his weight, sending him tumbling into a deep hole. Goku laid there for a moment, staring up at the sky. "Is there no solid ground left in this forest or something?!" The bruised Saiyajin clawed his way out of the trap and stood in place, afraid to make a move. "Hey, Vegeta?! You win! Come out now!" He looked around, noticing for the first time  
that it was completely silent, a very odd thing for a forest. The Saiyajin felt a wave of uneasiness wash over him as he scanned the ground for anymore potential traps. Everything seemed secure until his eyes fell upon a leaf lying on the ground. "That looks suspicious... There could be a rock under that... I'd better stay put..." Goku folded his arms, glaring at the leaf. "Wait... even if there was a rock under that leaf, how could it hurt me? Unless...unless I tripped and hit my head on it! Yeah! That's Vegeta's plan! He wants me to fall and hit my head in what looks like a leaf, but is really a rock! Well I won't let that happen! Heh, I'm more clever than people think... I'll just stand here and wait until that rock decides to move. It can't sit there forever!"  
  
Vegeta listened to Goku's bizarre conversation with himself from the bushes, completely dumbfounded by his logic. "Maybe Kakarotto did fall on his head one too many times...I think I should end my game early before that baka isn't even capable of sparring anymore." The prince nodded to himself and emerged from the bushes, causing Goku to jump in surprise. "Ha! I knew it! You just realized that I wasn't going to fall for your little rock trap and now your little game is over! Am I right?!" Vegeta blinked and looked at the skittish Saiyajin, who appeared to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "Calm down, Kakarotto. There aren't anymore traps. I guess you can't handle my little games after all. What a pity. I was just getting started too." Goku gasped and backed away from the smirking prince, abruptly falling back into the hole he had crawled out of minutes before. Vegeta raised an eyebrow and peered over the edge. "Hmmm...maybe I did go a little overboard..." "I'd say!"  
Goku cried, climbing out of the hole again. "Is there a way to get out of here without getting caught in a trap?!" Vegeta thought for a moment before pointing straight up. "Just fly out." The younger Saiyajin eyed the prince suspiciously before taking to the air. He thought he was home free before he felt a sudden power surge from Vegeta. He gasped and spun around just in time to see a ki blast make contact with his head, sending him falling back to the ground with a...thud. The prince walked over to his fellow Saiyajin and grinned down at him. "Sorry. The trap I had set up there didn't go off like it was supposed to, so I couldn't help myself." Goku stared up at the other Saiyajin for a moment. "The reason you don't play games with Trunks is because he WON'T play with you, isn't it?" Vegeta frowned but didn't say anything. The battered Saiyajin sat up and rubbed his head. "Did Trunks ever tag you before?" "Once. But I got even with the little brat." Goku frowned. "Like  
you're getting even with me?" Vegeta smirked and nodded. "I see..." the younger Saiyajin said, an evil smirk spreading over his face.  
  
LATER  
  
Goku stumbled into his house, covered in dirt from his little "game" with Vegeta. ChiChi frowned as her husband tracked dirt over her floor. "Goku!!" she screeched, making the Saiyajin cringe. "Where have you been all day?! Do you have any idea what time it is?! You're sleeping on the couch tonight, mister! Go get cleaned up!! RIGHT NOW!!" Goku growled under his breath, plotting his plans for the next day.  
  
Er...THE NEXT DAY  
  
Goku grinned as ChiChi opened the door, revealing Vegeta. The Saiyajin had called the prince over earlier to set his plan into action. ChiChi frowned. "Listen, I don't want Goku going out today, you hear me? He was out all day long with you yesterday!" Vegeta blinked as the woman poked him in the chest a few times as she spoke. Goku smiled evilly. "Hey, Vegeta. I think she just tagged you." An evil grin suddenly found a home on Vegeta's face as he grabbed ChiChi and flew toward the forest. "I have something I want to show you, woman." ChiChi looked back at Goku in confusion, who was standing in the doorway waving.  
  
All the Saiyajin heard for the rest of the day were the screams of a very frustrated ChiChi echoing from the forest.  
  
Sorry about the shortness of this fic. I'm running low on time 


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